Micah Warren, an associate professor of mathematics at the University of Oregon and author of Bitcoin: A Game-Theoretic Analysis, joined Grace Remington and Sean Hagan on a Bitcoin Magazine video discussion to tackle the question: could anyone actually break Bitcoin?

Game theory is a natural fit for that question, because Bitcoin has no central operator to police the network. The protocol instead leans on economics: miners compete to extend the chain and are rewarded for honest work, so whether Bitcoin can be broken comes down to whether cheating the rules could ever pay better than following them. Warren analyzed Bitcoin's security through this lens, explaining why miner incentives are one of the main forces holding the network up and why classic reorg and double-spend attacks are unlikely today.

The conversation also weighs AI versus Bitcoin mining when miners have other options — the AI pivot flagged in the episode's title as a potential threat to the network. It is a tension now playing out across the mining sector, where operators weigh whether direct facilities and power toward AI and high-performance computing workloads instead of hashing, and the discussion treats that shift in miner economics as security-relevant for the network.

The chapter list maps the rest of the argument: feather forks, in which a minority of miners could try to censor transactions; government stakes in miners and the institutional demand choke point around "blacklisted" versus "clean" bitcoin; and the security budget debate, which is rooted in Bitcoin's design, in which the block subsidy shrinks with each halving, leaving transaction fees to cover a larger share of miner revenue over time.

Chapters:

• 0:00 – Micah Warren on What Game Theory Reveals About Bitcoin's Security
• 1:33 – Why Miner Incentives Hold Bitcoin Together
• 3:40 – How Treasury Companies, Governments and Miners Change the Game
• 4:54 – North Korea, Iran and Bad Actors in the Bitcoin Ecosystem
• 6:18 – AI vs. Bitcoin Mining: When Miners Have Other Options
• 8:30 – Feather Forks: How a Minority of Miners Could Try to Censor Transactions
• 12:09 – Could Government Stakes in Miners Raise Censorship Risk?
• 13:02 – Blacklisted vs. Clean Bitcoin: The Institutional Demand Choke Point
• 16:19 – How Resilient Is Bitcoin? Rogue Attacks vs. Centralization
• 17:45 – The Security Budget Debate and Why Miner Collusion Is the Bigger Risk

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Nothing contained in this show constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments. Viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.

This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Patrick Green.